Love is a funny thing
by Babycupid
Summary: This is a love story between Seth Clearwater and an OC Harriett Hornstag. A new girl finds a job at a local coffee shop and soon finds herself imprinted on by a wolf. Rated T for now.
1. Chapter 1

**Harriett's POV**

Harriett walked through the coffee shop occasionally flattening her work apron against her black skirt. She took orders from the customers in her section of the coffee house. When she walked through the shop to take more orders or to retrieve the orders she hummed each song that was playing quietly over from the small stereo in a corner. She loved working at the coffee house, she loved the bitter smell of the coffee and delicious smell of the fresh cooked muffins that made your mouth water.

Harriett was just getting done with her break when she saw a few people walking to her section and sitting at one of the larger tables. She examined them for a moment as they all seemed to be together yet apart. One was a man in a wheel chair, he seemed to be the oldest and he seemed to be with the older woman. Her hair long and her skin tan. The other two seemed much younger, maybe the children of the older couple. She saw a girl with short hair and a slim figure like her own and tanned skin like the rest of her family. The boy though, had muscles but not too much. His hair was short as she looked at the boy she could see what looked like a tattoo peeking out from under the sleeve of his shirt.

Harriett cleared her throat and quickly messed with one of her red velvet colored curls before walking to the family's table. Her hair was pulled into a high pony tail with the hanging strands curled. Her hair fell just over her shoulder as she took her notepad from her apron pocket to look at the family. She flashed a friendly smile at the family before speaking in the same happy voice she wore every day while at work. _"Do you guys know what you are having or do you need a few more minutes."_

**Seth's POV**

Seth heard the waitress as she walked up to take their orders. He smelt her cotton candy perfume and grinned to himself. He loved cotton candy so much; it was his favorite sugary snack. He listened quietly looking around at everyone as they ordered their food. He looked up so he could order and he froze in his place. That's when it happened. His heart fluttered as he looked into her eyes, she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, and he could feel his whole world, his whole center shifting around this girl. She was all that mattered to him now. The only thing that had ever mattered, the only thing that will ever matter. He stayed in his place his eyes stuck to hers like glue that is until Leah elbowed him. He flinched and glared looking over at her. _"What was that about?!"_ He said angrily.

That's when it hit him; he had spent his whole time looking at her that he hadn't ordered. He cleared his throat and composed himself before ordering only a few snacks. He heard her laugh softly as she marked down his order and walked away. He watched her feeling as if she was slipping from his fingers. He watched her perfectly shaped body and velvet red hair moving with each step. He could hear her humming and could still smell her cotton candy spray.

He heard his mother clearing her throat. _"Seth?"_ She said softly breaking him away from his thoughts. He quickly turned his head to his family and saw that they were all staring at him. Leah sighed and shook her head looking at him. _"You have got to be kidding me..."._ She mumbles under her breath. Sue and her new husband Billy looked at each other before looking to Leah and Seth. Leah leaned forward and spoke before Seth could. _"He imprinted on her.."_ She said in a hushed tone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two**

Seth's POV:

Seth sat still in his chair after watching his step father and mother become tense. They knew what it meant for him to have imprinted and they know that it could mean possible danger for those that she knows and loves. He turned his head and watched the girl walk around the counter as she turned her head from side to side speaking with a few of her fellow coworkers. She was setting their plates and drinks onto a round tray before carefully balancing it as she walked back to the table. She was nearly there when a man had bumped into her. Seth watched her drop the tray and quickly fall to the floor. He heard a man speaking in a low angered voice as he stepped away from the girl.

"Watch it klutz!"

Hearing this caused a growl to escape Seth's throat and he was nearly on his feet when Leah had grabbed his arm. She held on his arm with a tight grip her close cut nails digging into Seth's arm. He quickly shot a glare at her before yanking free and walking over to the waitress. He grabbed a handful of napkins as he knelt down beside her to help clean up.

Harriett's POV:

When she had bumped into the man she instantly apologized falling to her knees to begin cleaning up her mess. She started with picking up the food and the bigger pieces of glass from the plates and cups. She thought about how this could not only affect her job but also her tips for the day. She drew in a deep breath and let it out in a sigh as she heard the man yelling at her. She looked up for a moment to apologize and saw that the boy from earlier had been kneeling down next to her. Her cheeks became flushed with a light shade of pink as she saw him holding a handful of napkins. She looked over at him just in time for him to hear him speaking.

"Are you alright?" He asked with a worried tone. His words were like silk slipping from his mouth effortlessly. Almost like he hadn't been trying for it to sound worried but that he genuinely was.

She drew in a sharp breath nodding a half smile spreading across her lips. She felt fine but as she continued to clean up the glass she looked down to see that there had been a piece in the palm of her hand. Had he noticed it and that why he asked or was he genuinely curious? She winced finally feeling the pain kick in. She stood up a bit trying to play it off as if she was going to get a mop when he quickly stood up reaching out to take her wrist in his warm hand. His palm wrapping around her wrist with room to spare. Harriett blushed and looked at him feeling the warmth from his hand shoot up her arm and spread evenly through her body.

Seth looked worriedly at her hand as she stared up at his face. She started to let her mind wander hoping that if she could distract her mind to think of something else she would no longer feel the pain. So she let her mind wander trying to pinpoint everything about his face. His deep brown eyes like a dark chocolate Hershey candy bar. Harriett let her eyes fall down the bridge of his nose as she looked at his high cheek bones. She smiled softly wondering how they looked when he smiled. She then moved to thinking of his lips. Just as she was beginning to think of his them she felt a few pairs of eyes on her. She swallowed and quickly looked back up at his eyes. How long had he been looking at her? Her eyes shift quickly away her face becoming flushed with color as she noticed that his family had been looking at them and that the small shard of glass was no longer in her hand.

Seth's POV:

Seth had looked at the small shard of glass in her hand and decided to just quickly pull it out of her hand as if ripping off a band aid. He wanted her to feel as little pain as possible so he did the only thing he could think of. Pull the shard out fast and maybe she won't feel it as much. When he had done that he was surprised not to have heard her wince or even whine about the pain. He carefully held a napkin to the palm of her hand trying to stop the bleeding. He had looked up to see if she was crying when he realized she had been looking at him. What was she thinking about? Was she glad that he was helping her? Was she okay with him touching her hand even though they didn't know each other? When she looked up their eyes connected for a brief moment. Though her eyes pulled away his stayed on her face admiring how cute she looked when she blushed.

He looked back over at his family for a brief second before looking back to her.

"I'm sorry if that hurt you… I am Seth."

He said his voice changing from serious to a very happy tone when he introduced himself. He had always been a happy person and he wanted her to know that he wasn't serious all the time. He didn't want her to be bored with him even after just meeting. Seth looked down at their hands and grinned softly kissing the palm of hers. His eyes shifted up at the name tag on her shirt before lowering their hands back down keeping pressure on her wound.

"Harriett? That's a beautiful name.."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Harriett's POV:**

Harriett felt him putting pressure on her wound now that her mind was no longer distracted. She flinched wincing when she felt the pain. When she heard him complementing her name her face turned a light pink. She smiled at him and slowly took her hand from his as she put a small amount of pressure on it. She looked over when she heard the man whom she had bumped into groan and roll his eyes in disgust looking at the both of them.

"Well are you going to clean up your mess or not?!" He said in an angry voice.

She quickly nodded her head and turned back to her mess, carefully picking up the tray walking back behind the counter. When she turned her attention back to Seth she swore she could see him shaking. She frowned and one of her fellow employees wrapped her hand up in a bandage.

"What are you looking at twerp?" The man said glaring at Seth as if trying to get a rise out of him.

Harriett quickly walked over to Seth seeing her manager asking the man to leave. She didn't know what she was thinking but before she knew it her good hand was resting on Seth's chest trying to keep him calm. Trying to distract him like she distracted herself from the pain.

No matter how much her manager ordered and asked the man he refused to leave. This only made Seth shake more and Harriett was starting to get worried about what Seth was going to do. She decided to ignore the pain in her hand and cup Seth's face trying to get him to look at her hoping that it would help.

"Seth… don't listen to him he is only trying to get you to throw the first punch.. " She says in a calm voice trying her best to keep her worried tone from becoming noticeable.

"So.. It's worth it.." He said with a low growl escaping his throat trying his best not to cave under her touch. Her touch, her voice, her soothing voice. It was all so relaxing to him. But he refused, he refused to give in. That man had hurt her and he didn't even have the dignity to apologize for it.

"No it's not Seth... It's going to be okay.. Just calm down okay…"

Seth shook his head refusing to give up but out of the corner of his eye he saw her looking at him. Not just looking at him but looking at him with pleading eyes. He continued to look into her eyes and when he saw that she wasn't going to look away until he was calm he slowly drew in a deep breath. He softly took her wounded hand from his cheek and nodded forcing himself to calm down.

"See.. It's okay…" She gave him a small smile.

**Seth's POV:**

When he caught her looking at him with her beautiful yet pleading eyes, it nearly made him fall to his knees. It was bad enough with her hands just resting on his cheeks. She didn't even know the power she had over him, yet she was so good at getting him to calm down when she wanted him to. He relaxed taking her hand into his. He felt her take a step back and slip on the mix of black and decaf coffee that still had yet to be cleaned off the floor. As soon as he saw her beginning to slip it was as if everything had been going in slow motion. He quickly snaked his arms around her waist pulling her against his chest.

"Whoa… be careful…" He said as he watched her face turn pink like someone had flipped a light switch on in her cheeks. He held her close for a good long moment. Their gaze sticking to each other's like glue. He cleared his throat before carefully standing her up straight making sure she was a safe distance from the spill.

He slowly forced himself to free her from his arms. As she took a small step back he cautiously reached his hand up to tuck a rouge strand of hair behind her ear. He wasn't sure that it was possible for him to fall more in love with this girl but she was so beautiful it took his breath away. Her milk chocolate colored eyes, her high cheek bones that when she was smiling were just above her perfectly round dimples.

He felt her softly relaxing her cheek against his hand. It was as if she felt protected with him. He watched the manager and a few customers throwing the guy from the coffee shop. As he saw the manager starting to walk back over to check on Harriett, he took a step back as if to seem like they had just been talking.

"Alright… Harriett you can take another ten minute break… I am going to have Brianne clean up this mess and give your customers their orders." He said in a frustrated tone.

Harriett quickly turned to look at him and nodded with from what Seth could see was a frown. He sighed wanting to take her hand, wanting to hold her in his arms to reassure her that everything was going to be fine. That even if she lost her job he would be there to help her until she found a new job.

When the manager had turned to walk away she turned to look at Seth. Her face quickly becoming covered with false happiness. He took a step back and pulled a chair out for her. He wanted to check on her hand so after she had taken a seat he pushed her chair in gently and sat next to her. He gingerly took her hand in his and very carefully unwrapped the bandage.

He saw that her hand had mostly stopped bleeding so he wrapped it back up with the bandage. He sighed softly and held her hand continuing to hold it until she pulled it away herself. He looked to her and grinned getting an idea. Before he could figure out how she might respond to his question or how bad it may be to even ask in the first place he just went for it.

"Do you want to go see a movie some time..?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Harriett's POV: **

She drew in a breath watching Seth as he pulled a chair out for her to sit. She couldn't help feeling like she was meant to be sitting there, with him. She felt him carefully push her chair in and when he sat down she watched as he reached for her hand. It flinched a bit as his hand neared but she slowly rested it in his hand. Like a wounded animal being handed to a vet. She bit her lip hoping that it wouldn't hurt when he unwrapped and wrapped it up.

When it was unwrapped she saw that it was already starting to heal. The bleeding had stopped for the most part so now it is just her against the pain. She knew she couldn't leave work early to get her pain medication so it would just have to wait. Her mind slowly drifted over reasons why Seth was being so kind to her. No one in this town had been kind to her before so it was unexpected. Although, no one in her life had ever truly been that kind to her. He truly genuinely cared, that was new for her.

Her mind started to take a strange turn. Filling her mind with being liked, then loved. She never thought it was possible having lived her life to the age of eighteen she honestly had lost all hope on love when she got out of high school. She wondered what he would say to her about that. Then her train of thought slammed into a brick wall. _Did he just say something? Did I hear right? I have never actually been on a date before. It was always just, do you want to be my girlfriend. Never to an actual date though, well, that's if you count movies, which she wasn't sure if she counted that._

She drew in a breath sitting up straight to look at him. She watched him closely as if to see if he was kidding or not. When she saw how serious he was it knocked the wind from her chest. She was officially starting to think that it was love. She wasn't sure why her mind continued to jump straight to love but it did. Maybe it was just her gut telling her that it does exist. That not everyone is as bad as the people who have hurt her. She slowly began to nod before she could stop herself.

"I would love to.."

She smiled sweetly at him and watched him closely. She swore that from the corner of her eye that he had to catch his breath, as if he had been holding it for years on end. She began to wonder if he had the same feelings for her as she has for him or if his were stronger. It seemed as if every time she smiled or looked at him the wind was kicked out of his chest. As if in a fairy tale, he is the prince who knows she is his one true love and she still has yet to figure it out.

She let her mind roam through her thoughts as quickly as it wanted to as she smiled at him. What seemed as long minutes of long silence was merely a few seconds. She stopped at one thought. The thought about if she should trust what he says or not. She decided to warn him about her trusting issues before they had gone on their date. To see how he would react. It was better that he knew at that moment rather than after the date, in case he wanted to change him mind because of it.

"Seth." She said softy seeing him smile at her answer.

"Yeah?" He said his world slipping out of his mouth as smooth as silk.

"I just wanted to warn you…That I may not trust you much at first. It is just that my past isn't very great in the dating department." She said softly which seemed to only make his smile fade.

**Seth's POV:**

Seth sat silently as he listened to Harriett explain that she might not be easy to give out trust. When he heard why he drew in a short sharp breath._ Why would people hurt her? She is so perfect and precious to this world. To his world._ It's not that he expected her to give out her trust easily. He was glad to earn it from her, it was just the thought that she could have been treated horribly. Like his sister was, except without the imprinting. He nodded snapping quickly away from his thoughts.

"I can wait to earn your trust Harriett, and I can promise you that I won't ever hurt you. Even if you don't give me the chance to be something more than a friend I will always be there to protect you. "

Seth paused thinking of anything else to say. Should he give her an option of not going to the movies until she knew she could trust him? He wasn't sure what he wanted to do exactly. All he knew was that he wanted to go on a date and show this girl that love really does exist. That not everyone she is with will hurt her like those in the past. She meant the world to Seth already and it was beating him up knowing that so many other people had ruined her trust already. He wondered if she still believed in love or if he would have to show her that it still existed also.

He was willing to do anything for her, be anything for her. If him asking her to the movies made her uncomfortable he would wait. He would wait years for her to be ready to date. If she needed to have him earn her trust he wouldn't rush anything. No matter how much he wanted to hold her close he would be friends with her just friends. Until she was absolutely comfortable with the idea of them together he would wait.

"If you are uncomfortable with going to a movie with me that is fine and I will wait. I don't mind earning your trust, you are worth the wait even if the wait lasts years. I will be your friend even if you don't want to go on a date with me right away. I will be only your friend until you are comfortable."

He spoke honestly his words slipping from his lips like melted chocolate. He saw her cheeks flip to a light shade of pink. Again as if a small child was flicking the lights on and off behind her cheeks. He thought of what else to say until her lips turned into a smile. His copied hers instantly as if he was her mirror. Her perfectly round cheek bones showing along with her perfectly round dimples. Seth had to admit to himself that he thought everything about her was perfect. She was the sheer definition of perfection and no matter how hard he or anyone else tried. He could never and would never find anyone more perfect than Harriett.

He loved the way her hair fell perfectly over her shoulder. Just enough from the bottom that there was still a strand or two hanging straight down from her pony tail. Her hanging hair curled like loops in a roller-coaster. Her chocolate brown eyes that matched his but with just a splash of green around the pupil as if someone had dropped a drip of pain. She jumped away from his thoughts as he heard her voice rise up from the silence between them.

"I would love to go see a movie with you Seth… I don't understand how someone as sweet as you could be single… You seem too nice to be free. "

She said the light in her cheeks still flipped on. He listened to every word and chuckled when she was finished. His own cheeks lighting up but thankful they were harder to see. He shook his head and hung it low for a minute before speaking.

"I am single... was waiting for the right person. I found her though…"


End file.
